How do we weave our poems from the air? How do we keep even the hundredth performance fresh? How do we avoid getting stuck in one persona, one tune, one cul-de-sac of delivery? How do we ensure that we mean what we say and we sound like ourselves? This session introduces a variety of techniques to help poets keep their words alive in the moment, and find the antidote to autopilot. Including an introduction to loop stations and ways of writing poetry out loud, in layers and composing with the sounds of words.

About Hannah

Hannah Silva is a British writer and performer known for her innovative explorations of form, voice and language. Her solo performances layer up vocal sounds and poetry, creating sonic explorations of meaning and sense. Her latest performance Schlock! splices Fifty Shades of Grey with a novel by Kathy Acker, celebrating ‘the slipperiness of words, reinventing them so that none of them are safe’ (The Guardian). Total Man was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. She has been featured in Wire magazine and on BBC Radio 3. Her poetry collection Forms of Protest (Penned in the Margins) was Highly Commended in the Forward Prizes. Her debut record Talk in a Bit is out now, with Humankind Records.

Radio: Silva won the Tinniswood Award for Best Radio Drama Script with her verse play Marathon Tales (co-written with Colin Teevan for BBC Radio 3); Jump Blue, an Afonica production for BBC Radio 3, about the Russian freediver Natalia Molchanova received a special commendation in the Best Single Drama category at the 2017 BBC Audio Drama Awards, with Fiona Shaw shortlisted for best actress. Her latest work for radio includes The Music Lesson (Sparklab Productions, BBC Radio 4 – finalist Best Single Drama, 2018 BBC Audio Drama Awards) and Solitary, about a woman in solitary confinement in a British prison (Afonica, BBC Radio 3 – shortlisted, Best Single Drama, BBC Audio Drama Awards; Christine Bottomley winner, Best Actress). Upcoming radio plays include “Indigo Children” directed by Jude Kelly, a Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.

The vocal acrobatics of musician and writer Hannah Silva test the physical limits of language. The Wire

She uses techniques like cut-up and collage, sound poetry and physical theatre to create something that’s unique but nods to older forms like shamanism, pre-religious ceremonies, Dadaism, and the kind of games that children play with language.

Ian McMillan, The Verb, BBC Radio 3

Metal’s masterclass programme is a series of workshops led by experts aimed at inspiring creative practice.

For further details about the workshop please contact Metal on 01733 893 077